“Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” (UAVs) (sometimes referred to as “drones,” Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs)) refer to aircraft without a human pilot aboard. The flight of a UAV may be controlled either autonomously (e.g., by onboard and/or remote computers) or by remote control of a pilot. Proposals for using UAVs include using UAVs for the delivery of payloads (e.g., packages) and remote monitoring and/or sensing (e.g., monitoring of crops or pipelines).
In either autonomous or remote control operation, it may be desirable that the UAV maintain network connectivity to the command and control location (i.e., the physical location of the pilot and/or control processes). Wireless cellular networks may be used to provide network connectivity to UAVs, as existing wireless cellular networks already cover large geographical areas. Current wireless cellular networks, however, are designed and optimized for communications at ground level.